Teaching and intercultural relations on the Brazil-Venezuela border

Abstract

The article addresses the interface between contemporary teaching and intercultural relations, through the analysis of the narratives of teachers from a public school, located on the Brazil-Venezuela border. The school is characterized by the coexistence, often conflicting, of different cultures, ethnicities, and nationalities. From the post-structuralist perspective, studies on interculturality and teaching are taken as basic to this discussion. Eight interviews were conducted with teachers and the data is analyzed using Foucault's discourse tool. The excerpts from narratives show the plurality of teaching views about cultural relations in the border school. International students’ presence can be understood both as a barrier and as a powerful learning opportunity for everyone. The text discusses the possibility of teaching constituted by a "border ethos", which would allow the existence of difference and the production of subjectivities for those who inhabit the school.